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Organizers for the America’s Cup cleared a major hurdle Tuesday, but it wasn’t a smooth ride.

Some community and environmental groups had objected to parts of the event’s environmental impact report, and race organizers responded to those concerns. The Board of Supervisors then unanimously certified the report.

The board also approved Supervisor David Chiu’s proposal that long-term development projects on the waterfront, as outlined in the city’s agreement to host the Cup, undergo additional environmental review. “This deal is not yet done,” Chiu said.

The Telegraph Hill Dwellers, San Francisco Tomorrow, Golden Gate Audubon Society, Sierra Club and Waterfront Watch had appealed the environmental impact report, which the Planning Commission unanimously approved in December.

They were concerned about air pollution from cruise ships unable to hook up to a power supply at Pier 27 that had been disconnected, and water pollution from a giant floating TV in Aquatic Park.

Race organizers said they had found funding for a new power supply at Pier 70. They also said they will not put the Jumbotron in the bay, possibly moving it to land.

“I think this project is finally moving in the right direction,” said Aaron Peskin, former president of the Board of Supervisors. “The Board of Supervisors is realizing that if they don’t make significant changes to the deal, Larry Ellison and the America’s Cup are poised to take San Francisco to the cleaners.”

Construction can now start for the event that begins with exhibition races in August. The finals are in 2013.

“I don’t know if anyone is against bringing the America’s Cup to San Francisco,” said Supervisor David Campos. “It’s just simply about making sure we do it in a way that’s environmentally responsible, that complies with the law and we also do it in a way that’s physically and financially responsible.”

- Stephanie M. Lee

On the job: Embattled Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi met with Mayor Ed LeeTuesday and said afterward that he did not intend to take a leave of absence as he defends himself against misdemeanor domestic violence and related charges.

“I will make sure, as I have been doing, (to) attend to the needs of the department,” Mirkarimi said after leaving the mayor’s office and being pursued by reporters up two flights of stairs at City Hall.

Lee has publicly raised questions since Friday about whether the Sheriff’s Department can function effectively while its leader is fighting criminal charges. Lee said before Tuesday’s meeting that he wanted to talk to Mirkarimi about considering a leave of absence, but that he didn’t want to pressure Mirkarimi.

“I don’t want to put any more pressure on the sheriff. I think he’s got enough,” Lee said at a news conference.

Mirkarimi described the meeting with Lee in Room 200 as “collegial, cordial,” but said he is confident he could do his job. Lee spokeswoman Christine Falvey said the tone of roughly 20-minute meeting was “very serious.”

Mirkarimi added that it was “only principled” that he would not accept pay while in court on the matter. He also said he would recuse himself from discipline cases before him that involve criminal allegations against his staff.

- John Coté

Transition plan: San Francisco’s Redevelopment Agency will transfer its projects and functions to the city at large, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday.

The board approved a resolution to put the city in charge of the agency’s responsibilities, after a California Supreme Court ruling that allows the state to abolish its redevelopment program by Feb. 1. The resolution, introduced by Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor Malia Cohen, transfers the agency’s affordable-housing assets to the Mayor’s Office of Housing. The city administrator will take over nonaffordable-housing assets.

The board also confirmed Lee’s appointees to a board that will guide the agency’s dissolution. The board will oversee projects, including Mission Bay, Hunters Point Shipyard and parts of Transbay.